Johnson to judge himself - Administrative chaos in England’s RFU has effectively given coach Martin Johnson the opportunity to decide whether or not he carries on after the World Cup.

Botched restructuring attempts have left the governing body without key decision makers. Acting chief executive Martyn Thomas said: ‘Martin is such an honest assessor of his own performance that he will judge himself after the World Cup.

‘He will turn around and say he is pleased with what he has done and he is staying or that, because he is very self-critical, that he is not happy. There is unlikely to be a CEO before January. I will have no problem in sitting down with Martin after the World Cup and resolving his position in the interests of England and the coaching team.’

Thomas also tried to allay fears that the boardroom chaos would adversely affect the team’s preparation. ‘Martin Johnson and the coaches said to me that what was going on at Twickenham was not on their radar. The players are not interested in what is happening here.’